


#12 Socks

by Error403HRD



Series: 1000 Prompts [12]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Ambiguous Age, Attempted Sexual Assault, Discrimination, Gen, Gender Identity, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by Real Events, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:01:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25391305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Error403HRD/pseuds/Error403HRD
Summary: They shivered.
Series: 1000 Prompts [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1822279
Kudos: 1





	#12 Socks

Opening the present, they shivered.

Their fingers were frozen, they wanted to vomit from the constant shivering.

They could see their breath.

But they didn't let their unhappiness show on their face.

The old woman who lived in the alley way next to theirs had given them a present.

They'd never gotten a present before.

It was a surprise, but a very welcome one.

It took a lot of effort, but slowly and painfully, they were able to open the present to reveal a pair of socks.

They'd never been so happy.

With a herculean effort they got up and hugged the old woman shivering beside them.

The thank you was not uttered as it took too much effort.

It took another ten minutes to get the too small shoes off, and another five to roll off the too small threadbare socks they'd been wearing before.

With their foot freezing, they managed to get the socks on in another ten minutes.

It was nearing sunset as they managed to get their shoes on.

The shivering old woman hugged them lightly, before getting up and walking away.

They wanted to ask her to stay, but it was too hard to speak.

Instead, they huddled in what little body heat they had and braved the snowy night.

The old woman didn't make an appearance the next morning, but that was normal.

So they instead got up and shivered at the loss of heat.

But they needed to find a shelter.

They could barely move this morning and the dumpster was frozen shut

They'd have to find a place to sleep that was warm and safe until the snow days passed.

So they wandered, their new socks warm and comfortable even with the mostly-destroyed shoes making them unpleasantly soggy.

They wandered all day, tired.

They wanted to collapse.

When was the last time they'd walked so much?

When was the last time they'd eaten?

They'd be fine.

They'd gotten this far.

Maybe the shelter would let them in this time?

Nodding with determination, they made their way to the homeless shelter.

Showing up, they were immediately turned away.

It wasn't their fault they didn't have a name.

It wasn't their fault they didn't know if they were a boy or a girl.

They wanted to take their clothes off to look but that made them feel bad things and they didn't want them looking at whatever they needed to to figure it out.

But the shelter was there to help people like them.

It was supposed to.

So why did they keep getting turned away?

It wasn't full.

But they rejected the old woman too.

She said it was because she was Muslim and didn't want to convert.

They didn't know what a Muslim was, but turning her away because of that was definitely bad.

With a sigh, they went looking for dumpsters that weren't frozen shut or frequently used.

No luck.

It was getting colder and the sky was turning orange.

Thinking quickly they grabbed a heavy thing-it was heavy and shiny and just sitting on the sidewalk-and went back to their dumpster before it got too cold.

The heavy thing was getting heavier the longer they held it.

So they lifted it with a lot of struggle and started hitting the ice.

It didn't take too long for it to break enough for them to lift the lid and jump in.

It didn't smell bad since the people that used it closed down a long time ago, but it was hard and uncomfortable and cold.

It was better than outside.

Inside they couldn't feel the wind.

The sky was dark and they knew it was time to sleep.

They shut the lid and huddled in the corner, shivering.

As they slept in slightly more comfort than the night before, a stronger chill descended upon the alley.

In the morning, the lid was frozen over.

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah, the sexual assault tags are there because asking a child to strip does happen and is sexual assault.
> 
> This one isn't late, so yay me, and the prompt may have been socks, but I get ideas based off the prompt and just run with it.
> 
> Yes people do get rejected from homeless shelters because of religion and gender, because your homeless help should not rely on fucking corporations with ulterior motives.


End file.
